Geisinger Health System has received more than $16 million in federal Recovery Act funds that will be used to enhance patient care by expanding its health information exchange network into five additional counties in Pennsylvania.

U.S. Rep. Paul E. Kanjorski, D-11, Nanticoke, joined Vice President Joe Biden and U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in Washington on Tuesday as they announced Geisinger would serve in a pilot program for eventual wide-scale use of health information technology through a "Beacon Community program."

In all, $220 million in Recovery Act funds was awarded to 15 other grant recipients across the country. Federal officials said the funds would not only improve health care quality, safety and efficiency in the 15 communities, but also would lay the groundwork for an emerging health information technology industry expected to support tens of thousands of jobs.

Geisinger Health System will create 30 to 50 jobs, including information technology workers and case managers, when it expands its health information technology network initially into Columbia, Montour, Northumberland, Snyder and Union counties, said Dr. James Walker, chief health information officer for Geisinger.

The goals of having an expanded network are to ensure patients "better care, more informed care and also faster care," he said. The funds are expected to improve patient outcomes within a three-year period.

"We will not only deliver improved outcomes in low-cost usable ways for the five initial counties, but we'll be preparing to roll the service out regionally and beyond," Dr. Walker said. "The idea is to develop a self-sustaining business model that will improve health care for all people, not just those served by Geisinger."

For several years, Geisinger Health System has been using health information technology to try to meet regional needs. The grant money gives Geisinger "the funding and the motivation to take that to a new level," Dr. Walker said.

"What we plan to do is link hospitals, clinics, consumers, patients, long-term-care nursing homes and home health agencies into a unified web of information, meaning the patient gets more coordinated care across the five counties," he said.

Mr. Kanjorski credited Geisinger for being a "model of quality and efficient health care."

"Through the Beacon Community program and the expansion of health information using new technologies, Geisinger can work to further enhance care for the patients at its facilities, as well as those at other health care institutions," Mr. Kanjorski said. "This program helps bring our health care community together for the betterment of patients while also creating jobs at home."

Contact the writer: dallabaugh@citizensvoice.com

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